Yesterday, the Grenfell report was finally released, seven years after the fire. For me, the only surprise was that it was far, far worse than I could have imagined. It was crystal clear from day one that it was a clear case of corporate manslaughter. As soon as it became clear that the building was clad in material that accelerated the fire, the police should have started a criminal case for corporate manslaughter. The companies involved have had seven years to cover their tracks. People have left the firms, people have died, emails have been lost. Seventy two people died. The report said that all of them died needlessly. Firms have continued making profits. Directors have continued to be paid bonuses. Of course, a report was needed to ascertain what happened, but the police should have been breaking doors down, seizing mail servers, interviewing people under caution and charging people. I listen to BBC Radio London most days, but I couldn't yesterday. It was too sickening. I started reading the reports in this mornings papers and had to stop. It is so much worse than I could imagine. I thought that it was carelessness that caused the problems, on a massive scale. It didn't occur to me that cladding companies could cheat the tests. I genuinely thought they'd simply not done them thoroughly enough.
The only way that we can stop such tragedies happening is to lock up the directors of companies that are criminally negligent. If there is a crime that kills 72 people, the police investigation should start on day one. Only when directors end up in the slammer for long periods, will we see companies take safety seriouly. Three years ago, I wrote this poem for the people of Grenfell
,
The Roman Candle (#Endourfiresafetyscandal)
On the 14th of June we heard the news
that Grenfell had gone up in smoke
72 died, hundreds were homeless and
The system of justice is broke
Living in a Roman Candle
Time to end the Cladding Scandal
Living in a Roman Candle
It proves that the system is broke
Time to end the cladding scandal
We don’t want a Roman candle
Time to end the cladding Scandal
People need safe homes
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